Changeling (short story)
|name=Changeling |image=Changeling SC2 Cncpt1.jpg |imgsize=250px |author=James Waugh |editor= |artist= |intartist= |series= |parent= |pages=6 |publisher=Blizzard Entertainment |published=November 18, 2009 |binding= |isbn10= |isbn13= |isbn10e= |isbn13e= |inseries1= |inseries2= |inseries3= |inseries4= |inseries5= |inseries6= |inseries7= |inseries8= |inseries9= |inseries10= }} Changeling is a StarCraft II short web story written by James Waugh, set in the StarCraft universe in 2503September 27, 2011. "Timeline." StarCraft: Ghost: Spectres. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). pp. 393-416. ISBN 978-1439-10938-0. and designed to tie-in with Wings of Liberty. It focuses on the changeling unit. Description Just because the years since the have been relatively peaceful, doesn't mean the Koprulu Sector is safe. A rag-tag group of Dominion marines known as Zeta Squad is about to find that out... the hard way. Synopsis Zeta Squad was deployed to Roxara's moon, a barren but mineral-rich world, to deal with Kel-Morian Combine sabotage. The squad considered the assignment unusual since they were pulled from a planet a warp jump away. The squad's leader, Sergeant Walden Briggs, did not question his orders. They headed toward the mining cavern at Binion's Point while Hendrix entertained the other troopers with jokes. Once inside they split into three groups: Briggs and Jenkins, Brody and Wynne, and recon specialist Hendrix going alone. The search turned up nothing of interest. Briggs noticed Hendrix did not join in the radio banter and wondered if he was spooked. The squad returned to an SEC-guarded command center eight miles away and awaited retrieval at 2700. Briggs got out of his armor and watched a UNN report by Kate Lockwell, but was interrupted by a mortally wounded Brody. Brody claimed to have been attacked by a zerg masquerading as Hendrix and wounded it. Jenkins and Wynne corroborated the story. They had found "Hendrix" acting suspiciously in the operations room. When interrupted it punched Jenkins and tried to run. Brody tackled it but was in turn injured by "Hendrix"'s hand which had turned into a bone blade. There was no time to get Brody to the infirmary before he died. Briggs and Wynne armed themselves with needle guns and pursued the zerg into the reactor core, following its blood trail. Jenkins remained behind to summon and coordinate with SEC when they arrived. Wynne was critically wounded by the zerg, which was now "morphing", and was euthanized by Briggs. The creature began transforming to resemble Wynne. Briggs found the mental strength to kill the creature as it attacked him. Instead of SEC reinforcements, Briggs was confronted by a team of Dominion scientists and full squad of neurally resocialized marines from the Dominion Marine Corps and Jenkins' dead body. One of the scientists, a captain, explained Zeta had encountered a changeling, a recent zerg breed being used to spy on the Dominion. The captain also explained Jenkins had been killed for "resisting a superior officer". Briggs realized his squad had been used in a live experiment and his absolute trust in the Dominion wavered; he shot and killed the captain and was in turn executed by the marines. The remaining scientists were disappointed at the loss of data. However they had two more changelings in stasis and moved to nearby Tau Squadron to continue the experiments.Waugh, James. "Changeling." (November 18, 2009). Blizzard Entertainment. Changeling Accessed 2009-11-18."Changeling" IGN. Changeling Characters Zeta Squad *Sergeant Walden Briggs *Corporal Brody *Corporal Jenkins *Hendrix *Wynne Mentioned *DJ Atmosphere *Kate Lockwell *Arcturus Mengsk *Jim Raynor *Rudy Russell Zerg *A changeling References Category:Short stories